On a Saturday night in St. Louis, a dispute between two young women escalated into a fatal shooting. The life of Tayia Ashell Beck, a 24-year-old Black/African American female from Ferguson, was cut short on March 31, 2007. The incident, which also left a 33-year-old man critically injured, unfolded around 9 p.m. in the 5700 block of Era Avenue, near West Florissant Avenue. The violence was allegedly sparked by a quarrel between Beck and an 18-year-old woman.
The investigation quickly led police to identify a suspect in the double shooting, 32-year-old Adaryl Gibson. The 18-year-old woman, who was reportedly with Gibson, was taken into custody and booked on suspicion of murder and assault. Following her arrest, authorities began their search for Gibson.
The pursuit of Gibson came to a dramatic and tragic end just before midnight. As St. Louis police officers closed in on him in the 2600 block of McLaran Avenue in the nearby community of Jennings, Gibson took his own life. While sitting in a parked car, he fatally shot himself in the head. Police believe he was the assailant in the shooting that killed Beck and wounded the other man. Warrants for the 18-year-old woman who had been arrested were taken under advisement by prosecutors the following Monday morning.
